Effects of ketanserin tartrate on serum lipids in patients with essential hypertension.

Several antihypertensive agents such as thiazide diuretics and some beta-blockers have recently been shown to adversely affect lipid metabolism. Moreover, there is a growing suspicion that the adverse effect on plasma lipids might outweigh the favourable effect of lowering blood pressure. The effect of ketanserin tartrate (20 to 60 mg daily), a new antihypertensive drug, on blood lipids was evaluated in a 12-week non-comparative clinical trial in 34 patients with mild or moderate hypertension. Ketanserin reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 12.2 and 9.8%, respectively, without altering heart rates. Total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels in the fasting plasma were observed to decrease significantly by 6.3 and 8.8% respectively, whereas mean triglyceride and high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol remained almost unchanged. These changes were consistent irrespective of their initial values. Significant decrease in apolipoprotein B and E was also observed. Apolipoprotein A-I, A-II, C-II and C-III were not altered significantly. It is speculated that ketanserin affects mainly LDL-cholesterol. Based on these findings, ketanserin is considered to have a potentially beneficial effect on coronary risk profile and should be given full consideration when drug therapy is selected for patients with mild to moderate hypertension.